1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed generally to a vehicular seat, and more particularly to a vehicular seat with an adjustable thigh support.
2. Description of Related Art
A traditional automobile seat includes a generally horizontal seat base and a seatback coupled to the seat base at an obtuse angle for supporting an occupant of the automobile in a seated posture. The occupant of the automobile sits, facing a forward direction, upon a cushion provided to pad the seat base with his feet resting on the floor and his legs extending outward beyond the cushion. The seat can optionally be provided with a mechanism for horizontally adjusting the position of the seat relative to the floor of the automobile, as well as a mechanism for adjusting the angle between the seatback and the seat base.
A tall occupant having long legs will typically adjust the position of the seat toward a rear of the automobile to enlarge the leg room between a front portion of the seat cushion and a forward barrier of the automobile cabin. Doing so allows the tall occupant to extend his legs as much as possible to enhance his comfort while riding in the automobile. By extending his legs, the tall occupant also allows his thighs to rest somewhat flat on the seat cushion, thereby providing support to the tall occupant's thighs. However, the longitudinal length of conventional seat cushions is insufficient to extend beneath the entire length of the tall occupant's thighs, causing them to extend unsupported beyond a front portion of the seat cushion.
Similarly, an automobile seat tailored to provide thigh support to a tall occupant causes discomfort to a short vehicle occupant. In such cases, the longitudinal length of the seat cushion extends too far forward beneath the short occupant's thighs and even beneath the knee of the short occupant. Thus, while seated, the short occupant can not bend his legs at a suitable angle to allow his feet to rest on the floor of the automobile's cabin.
Previous attempts to devise a vehicular seat to accommodate occupants of varying heights have focused on allowing adjustment of the longitudinal length of the seat cushion. To this end, the front portions of said seats have been made adjustable, independent of the remainder of the seat cushion. The occupant can manually adjust the position of the front portion relative to the seat cushion, thereby providing thigh support where needed. However, such a configuration leaves a gap between the adjustable front portion and the rest of the seat cushion, making the occupant uncomfortable while seated in the seat.
Other attempts have focused on allowing adjustment of the seat cushion as a whole, undivided structure. Such configurations allow for rotation of the front portion about an axis such that said rotation elevates or lowers the front portion of the seat cushion as desired. Although this does provide support to the occupant's thighs, it limits the occupant's ability to extend his legs (i.e., establish an angle between the thigh and calf to an angle approaching 180°) while still allowing his feet to rest on the floor of the automobile's cabin.
Yet other attempts have been made to allow for manual adjustment of the front portion of the seat cushion as a whole, undivided structure in a plane of the seat cushion, while preventing the formation of a gap between the adjustable portion and the seat cushion. Such a configuration typically employs a sliding seat base support that underlies the padding of the seat cushion. The seat base can be slid forward or rearward with respect to the vehicle, causing the front portion of the seat to extend or retract, respectively. However, when the adjustable seat base is in a retracted position the excess seat cushion hangs freely toward the floor of the vehicle, creating an unsightly appearance and an obstacle limiting access to the underside of the seat.
Alternate adjustable thigh supports also allow an underlying member to be horizontally adjusted relative to the seat cushion to adjust the thigh support provided to the seat's occupant. Although such configurations coil the excess seat-cushion material to prevent it from hanging freely, these configurations utilize a complex system of compatible gears to adjust the length of the seat cushion and hold it in place when adjustment is not desired. And in addition to being complex, the gear system requires the seat's occupant to manually turn the interlocking gears, making adjustment slow and cumbersome.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a vehicular seat having an adjustable thigh support that is easy to use and accommodates occupants of varying heights. The vehicular seat can minimize the excess cushion material that hangs freely when the thigh support is in a retracted position, and can be readily adjusted from a retracted position to an extended position.